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Instructional Interventions 1

Instructional Interventions

Emma Cornwall

Kennesaw State University


Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………..Page 3

Introduction………………………………………………………………………Page 4

Literature Review………………………………………………………………...Page 6

Methodology……………………………………………………………………...Page 16

Data Analysis and Results………………………………………………………...1

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...Page 39

References.......................................................................................................…...Page 42

Appendix…………………………………………………………………………..Page 46


Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the impacts of instructional interventions

through individualized spelling assessments and assignments, additionally to assess if there was

a transfer of spelling skill to the students’ writing and other areas of school. From this study the

students were able to increase their spelling knowledge of spelling patterns, decode unknown

words, and communicate better with their spelling in the form of their writing. From this study,

all of the participants were able to spell more unknown words by decoding. Throughout this

study, students had to participate in weekly word sorts and word activities as well as spelling

assessments.


Introduction

This Action Based Research Project focused on improving student’s writing through

instructional interventions. From this research, I hope to gain an understanding of how to use this

allotted time of my intervention block to improve student’s spelling. The student's spelling was

not corresponding to their reading levels. This generation of students quickly learns to use tools

such as spell check; however spelling words out phonetically may not always give the result you

intended. Through instructional intervention, I aspire to increase the spelling level in which my

second grade students started from. For example if they were hearing the beginning parts of

words, after my intervention, I would hope they could move to syllables and affixes in the

phonemic awareness stage and work on the sound isolation with the phonics skills. I also aspire

to increase the student’s confidence in them by showing them that they can spell.

The purpose and background of incorporating a spelling intervention into my teaching

came out of a need for better spellers. The third grade decided to work on basic word work with

students to establish a strong foundation. Parents as well have commented on their students’

spelling and have asked teachers to work with them more on spelling. Throughout my school,

math and reading are the two main subjects to focus on because of the various assessments that

reflect on the state, school district, school, teachers, and students. With these assessments

students are expected to read the directions and questions themselves as well as explain their

answers and thinking processes. Although Science and Social Studies have not been a priority,

there is now a large push to increase the rigor of the curriculum in both areas. By intervening on

spelling, I believe that students will increase in their scores in all subject areas, because they will

be better equipped to handle situations in which they need to sound out unknown words, or wish


to spell a word to explain their answers and process of thinking. The student also needs to write

words correctly so that their point is coming across as they intended it to.

The research that was conducted focused on the question: How does a phonics

intervention enhance students’ ability to correctly encode words when writing. The goal of the

spelling intervention is to increase each student’s ability to spell and therefore ability to respond

to posed questions throughout their educational journeys.

Traditional spelling assessments do not teach the student how to spell but rather how to

memorize and spell certain words. Incorporating a spelling intervention that focuses on the

individual level of each student should improve their spelling ability. If a student does not hear

the “ch’ sound, then how could you expect them to spell words with multiple syllables? Even

though the students will have a designated time for the spelling intervention, does not mean that

they are not working on these skills throughout their school day and at home.

This is the first time that I will be implementing a spelling intervention with my class. Of

course these students have had spelling assessments before, but none have been truly

differentiated using a researched based assessment. To assist me with the students’ levels, I used

the Words Their Way spelling assessment.


Literature Review

Education is constantly evolving; reinventing strategies and techniques to help all

students. Instructional intervention is a planned set of procedures that are aimed at teaching a

specific set of academic or social skills to a student or students. Interventions are more than one

lesson and require the lessons to be planned; sustained, focused; goals oriented, and require a set

of procedures. There have been many studies, researching certain instructional interventions with

diverse populations, and tools. Instructional interventions are an invaluable tool used to ensure

that all students receive a complete and thorough understanding of instruction that was

potentially fragmented, incomplete, or misunderstood.

There are many variables that factor into the educational success of a student. Lehmann

and Ifenthaler (2012) wanted to answer the question whether learning/cognitive styles of students

were a good starting point for creating target-group instruction which was appropriate for them.

The results were based on a population of 56 participants with different learning styles. The

research concluded that a consideration of the learning styles to match an instructional learning

environment does not transfer into higher quality discussions of problem solutions or an increase

in declarative knowledge.

McLeskey and Waldron (2011) took a different approach, and talked about the nature of

instruction in inclusive general education classroom and resource settings. This research provides

a foundation for supporting full inclusion and how to deliver services for those served under the

umbrella of special education. Today, students are being served in their least restrictive

environment and in many cases that is the general education classroom. When appropriate

interventions and consistent support are in place, all students can make progress. The research


that states students can learn in their least restrictive environment, should empower teachers to

feel more comfortable and confident that learning can and will take place in their classroom.

During a typical school day, one main concern is having enough time to complete all the

tasks teachers have. Adding an instructional intervention takes time to plan and in turn if your

school is a professional learning community, you would need to discuss the interventions with

your school/grade level on implementation and data. One researcher, Perlow (2014) focused his

attention on using time wisely. He wanted to make sure the students had the time they needed to

fully understand the content without the stress of what is coming up next in the school day.

When you are involved in a collaborative team, time is of the essence. You need to put an

emphasis on connectivity and collaboration. Teams need to develop the ability to continually

improve the way they coordinate their work, and frequently that yields new efficiencies. During

your instruction and intervention, take the approach of three harder days and 2 easy days for the

students. This way, they will have an idea of how much time they need to allot for certain

subjects, and topics. In addition to putting an emphasis on connecting and coordinating,

communicating is another task to solve.

Instructional intervention can take hold, however if you and your team are on the same

page, the intervention can be implemented well. Mahdavi and Beebe-Frankenberger (2009)

observed pioneering RTI systems that work. In this article the researchers focused on using a

collaborative teamwork to use Response-to –intervention (RTI) systems responsive to the needs

and strengths within separate schools and communities. Their main focus was on building a

successful collaborating team to ensure that there could be an open dialogue of ideas shared.

This system allots time for the team to build time into the school day and year schedule, stating a

purpose for the collaboration, training and supporting of school personnel so they can be


effective in giving the intervention and collaborating, and being committed to the work. Many

obstacles were encountered during the creation of the intervention, but if you can build a good

collaboration team that can reflect the school’s local culture, values, resources, and needs then

you can make progress with your interventions. Creating instructional interventions that prosper

takes the dedication of many school system employees.

Within a school system, you are likely to find multiple instructional interventions. These

interventions may work for that school, county, classroom, or population. McEldoon, Cho,

Rittle-Johnson, and the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, (2012) assessed the

effectiveness of educational interventions by looking at differences between intervention groups

overtime. Second and third grade students who scored below 75% correct on the pretest

participated in a 20-minute one-on-one tutoring intervention that focused on mathematical

equivalence problems. Out of all the intervention groups, the researchers found that the item

response models offer many methodological advantages in terms of individual learning and

group change over time. This shows that students can state why or why they do not agree with a

statement, or choose which answer they think is correct given multiple choices. This will give

data as to why a teacher should work with the students on their spelling level to introduce the

new spelling sort.

When given assessments, many students lack the confidence needed and therefore their

best is not representative of their score. Balkam, Nellessen, and Ronney (2013) examined

students’ test anxiety and how interventions may be able to alleviate some of them to increase

their test taking performances. The interventions that were applied were teaching test taking

strategies, collaborative testing, and differentiated tests. Students were also encouraged to

highlight important words, eliminate wrong answers, and plan extended responses. Before the


interventions could take place, students were given a pre-test and grouped based on their pre-

determined knowledge of the subject or ability to show a skill. While in the groups, the students

were taught the interventions and work together to understand where their mistakes were made.

The conclusions of this study showed that the students experienced a positive way they viewed

tests and felt more comfortable and or prepared for future assessments.

Consideration for setting up the intervention is very important. Once you understand that

this is time consuming and helpful to the students, you can focus on the goal setting and content

of the particular intervention for your students. Ebbles (2014) started her research of the

effectiveness of therapy for grammar for school-aged children with language impairments by

focusing on the specific areas of grammar (expressive and receptive). Then she focused on the

effectiveness of the diverse methods of delivery. The evidence so far indicated that children with

receptive and expressive language impairments need intensive help to make progress with their

language. The intervention needs to be specialized to their needs and a combination of methods

that work for that child. These interventions need to consider the age of the child, their language

profile, and the most effective and cost-effective delivery of the interventions.

Bryant D., Bryant B, Gertsen, Scammacca, and Chavez (2008) took a different approach

and focused their research on the effect of tier 2 interventions with first and second grade

students. These students were identified with as having difficulties in mathematics. The students

received 15 minute intervention lessons for eighteen weeks focusing on early math skills and

concepts. There were interesting results in which there was a significant effect for the second

grade students, however there was not a significant effect for the first grade students. This

research shows that age for certain interventions is a factor to consider.


Dentson, Tolar, Fletcher, Barth, Vaughn, and Francis (2013) positioned their research on

the effects of an intense individualized Tier 3 intervention for second grade students. These

students showed inadequate progress to a reading instruction in a first grade classroom,

supplemented with a tier 2 intervention of small group intervention. Dentson, Tolar, Fletcher,

Barth, Vaughn, and Francis evaluated cognitive characteristics of the students. The results of this

research showed that students who were in the research intervention made significant progress

than those students who received general interventions, which were not specifically geared

toward them. The areas in which the growth was made were those of word identification,

phonemic decoding, and word reading fluency. Although progress was made, it is important to

note that the students still continued to struggle with reading, decoding, and fluency. The

instructional interventions allowed students the extra time to hear and process the information.

With multiple repetitions of information, students are more likely to recall the information.

Similar to Dentson, Tolar, Fletcher, Barth, Vaughn, and Francis in the way they focused

on a specific subject, Hier and Eckert (2014) noticed that national estimates of students’ writing

abilities in the United States indicated that in 2002, 72% of elementary-aged students were

unable to write with grade-level proficiency. No study to date has examined the generalization

and maintenance of writing fluency improvements developed through these interventions, and

this is what Hier and Eckert planned on doing. The primary goal of this study was to determine if

students who were involved in a performance feedback intervention or practice intervention,

improved their writing. The results showed that students participating in a feedback intervention

had more success than those in the practice based intervention. If this research were to be drawn

out, the results may show that, performance feedback would produce short-term desired effects

on students’ writing fluency growth, but that explicit programming of generality may be required


to produce long-term achievement gains. It is important for teachers and administration to give

quality feedback, with explicit information. If a student needs to work on their writing, give them

specific feedback to improve on. Say something similar to, “You do a great job in developing

your character, but let’s focus on your word choices to create a better picture of the character.”

This feedback points out what the writer needs to work on but also reinforces their strengths, in

the way he/she is developing the character.

With all of the subjects and activities planned throughout the day, planned and

meaningful instruction is important so that students can benefit from their education in the

highest way. Heafner and Fitchett (2012) focused their research on the national trends in

elementary instruction, particularly focusing on the social studies curriculum. The data they used

was from the National Center for Educational Statistics and used research that spanned fifteen

years. The main purpose of this research was due to the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind

and the federal-mandated testing of ELA and Math.

With the need of reinforced skills and standards, Kober, McMurrer, Silva, along with the

Center on Education (2011) researched test scores trends and whether or not it is affecting

achievements and if the gaps are narrowing. To make their topic more controllable, they focused

on Title 1 schools. Title I provides extra instructional services designed to raise achievement for

low-performing students in schools with relatively high poverty rates, and for all students in

many of the nation's highest-poverty schools. The key findings from this study include: (1)

Achievement on state reading and math tests has improved for Title I students in most states with

sufficient data; (2) Gaps between Title I and non-Title I students have narrowed more often than

they have widened since 2002, although trends were less encouraging at grade 4 than at grade 8

or high school; (3) When gaps narrowed, it was most often because achievement improved at a


faster rate for Title I students than for non-Title I students; and (4) The size of achievement gaps

between Title I and non-Title I students varied greatly among states but was often smaller than

gaps for low-income students or for certain racial/ethnic groups.

So far we have seen research that focused on the learning styles of students, the

environment of the intervention, collaborating with your team and using time wisely, the

students age/grade, and the content of the interventions.

McClanahan, Williams, Kennedy and Tate (2012) researched a very interesting topic, in

which a teacher was to encourage the use of an iPad as main mode for intervention strategies

with a fifth grade struggling reader with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The

device not only helped the student focus his attention, it facilitated his becoming much more

metacognitive in his reading. Comparisons of pre- and post-assessments showed that the student

had gained one year's growth in reading within a six weeks’ time period. The student also gained

in confidence and sense of being in control of his learning.

Vaughn, Wanzek, Murray, Roberts and the Center on Instruction (2012) provided

research-based guidance for intensifying instruction in reading and mathematics for students

with significant learning difficulties, including students with disabilities, in kindergarten through

grade 12. The guide gives technical assistance providers and states information reflecting "best

practices" for implementing intensive interventions to improve education practices for struggling

students, including those who receive special education. With those goals in mind, the authors

discussed: (1) integrating strategies that support cognitive processes (e.g., self-regulation and

memory) with academic instruction and aligning this instruction with learner needs; (2)

differentiating instructional delivery by making it more explicit and systematic and by increasing


opportunities for feedback; (3) increasing instructional time; and (4) reducing group size. With

these strategies, one will be able to intensify the instruction for the students, some of which are

more probable to incorporate into the schools day easily while others will need time to

collaborate and plan with your team.

Along with the researched who feel that intensive instruction in beneficial all students,

Fuchs D, Fuchs, L and Vaughn are no different. Fuchs D, Fuchs L, and Vaughn (2014) indicated

by their research that using intensive instruction for students with learning disabilities is also

beneficial. Research shows that many struggling students in the primary grades respond

successfully to Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction, however what about those who need extra supports

to succeed? This research took the approach of, what can teachers do to intensify instruction to

make it beneficial? Students who do not benefit adequately from RTI’s first two tiers of

instruction….. Signal a need for even more intensive educational care. This is where the

instructional interventions give the added supports the students need to succeed.

Many times the teachers feel the need to support the students by leading them to the

answer and in a way teach the test. Hulac, Dejong, and Benson (2012), questioned if students

could run their own interventions. In this study, a group of fourth graders who had difficulty

with their multiplication facts were the population. This study gave many insights to the abilities

of students than many may overlook because of their lack of knowledge in a specific task/area.

The results indicated that the student participants were able to follow an intervention program

without having immediate teacher cuing, and therefore relied more on self-monitoring and self-

correction. Although this study showed result that worked, there are many implications and

variables to think about if one were to implement this type of intervention. Some of the topics to

think about are the testing schedules, how fast you want to implement the intervention, how


much time to assess the data, the age and intensity of the instruction. Giving the students the

tools to self-monitor and self-correct, allow them to focus on doing what is right for them.

With the interventions focusing on the students spelling, Jaspers (2012) found that having

students look at a word, cover it and then write it as well as doing all of that and then comparing

the definition increased the students spelling as well as improving their reading. In her study,

only one participant was able to define words she learned in her intervention time and carry it

over to other educational settings.

While Jaspers (2012) intervention focused more on ways to help spellers

remember the spelling of words, the Words Their Way program takes the approach of using a

mixture of phonics, vocabulary and spelling. This program focuses on where the students are

phonetically and gradually increasing the rigor of words and pictures, as the students should

slowly build their phonics skills.

Gebauer ( 2012) focused her spelling intervention on students with poor spelling

and reading abilities while also looking at the brain function during these interventions. The

results showed that specific interventions may alter brain function in language relevant areas of

the brain with reading and spelling difficulties. After five weeks of the spelling and reading

interventions, the students significantly improved and the left temporal, parahippocampal and

hippocampal regions increased with activation.

Hallenbeck and Fleming’s (2011) research brought up the point that goal-setting is not an

innate skill, and as teachers we have become quite good at setting goals, however we do not

teach our students how to set their own goals. Afterschool programs can provide strong

backdrops for goal setting initiatives, and that goal-setting is a behavior in which elementary age


children can accomplish. This research used the Transtheoretical Model which focuses on

behavior changes as a process that evolves through a series of stages. The results showed that the

intervention benefitted students and the teacher-facilitators that were involved. Important factors

of these results were to access the strengths and weaknesses of the goal-setting intervention to

improve the implementation. The students were able to choose which behavior was appropriate

for the situations they face. This learned skill can be carried over into the classroom setting,

especially during times of instruction which can become frustrating to students who may have a

difficult time comprehending and recalling information.

In addition to reacting properly to given situations in school, Shulman noticed that this

lack of appropriate behavior also carried over into other areas of the schools day such as physical

education. Shulman’s (2013) action research project was conducted because students' lack of

sportsmanship skills in elementary school physical education was negatively affecting the

physical activity level of many students. The teacher was spending classroom time managing

conflicts and dealing with negative sportsmanship issues and therefore losing classroom time for

students to be physically active. The purpose of this research project was to increase positive

sportsmanship behaviors in 54 fifth-grade students, between August 27th and December 10th,

2012. Students would spend time arguing, yelling, and sometimes even physical violence would

ensue. As a result students were losing time when they could be physically active and releasing

the built up emotions brought on throughout the school day. The teacher researcher collected

data from a student survey, teacher survey, parent survey, and weekly observation behavior

checklist. After reviewing the literature, the teacher researcher decided upon weekly

interventions including creating classroom rules, role-playing, journaling, and class discussions.

Creating classroom rules allowed students to have ownership. Role-playing allowed students to


interact with their classmates while learning methods to handle themselves in class situations.

Journaling allowed students to reflect on their current level of sportsmanship and how they can

improve and set goals for the future. Class discussions were guided by the teacher researcher to

facilitate good conversation, and hopefully allowed students to realize ways in which they could

improve their sportsmanship behaviors in certain situations. The teacher researcher found that

the students' feelings about their sportsmanship behaviors decreased as evidenced by the student

survey results. After compiling the post-documentation results from the student surveys, there

was a decrease in students' feelings of their sportsmanship behaviors, both scores decreased from

the pre-documentation results, which may have been caused by an increased awareness of

students' perceptions of their sportsmanship behaviors. This also carried over into the classroom

and allowed the students to understand a better way to communicate their thoughts and feelings

in a comfortable setting.

Instructional interventions are an invaluable tool used to ensure that all students receive a

complete and thorough understanding of instruction that was potentially fragmented, incomplete,

or misunderstood.

Methodology

This study took place in a school, North of Atlanta, Georgia in a suburban area.

The instructive intervention was conducted with twenty-three second grade students, eight of

which are females and fifteen are males. I have five spelling levels; six students are on the ‘B’

level which focuses on initial consonants, blends, and diagraphs. Four students are on the ‘D’

level which focuses on affricates, nine students are on the level ‘F’ which focuses on long

vowels ( VCe), three of my students are on the level ‘H’ which instructs about other common


long vowels, and finally I have one student on the level ‘M’ and focuses on long vowel patterns

(stressed syllables). The age ranges of my students are six-seven years old. The makeup of my

class in regards to race consists of Hispanic, African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Mix

races. Four out of twenty three attend EIP, and eight out of twenty three attend ESOL. A

breakdown of my students who participated in my research is shown in Figure 1.0-Student

Participates.

Figure 1.0- Student Participates

Student Spelling Level Gender Race1 D/ affricates Female African American2 B/ initial consonants, blends,

and diagraphsMale African American

3 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male African American4 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Asian5 D /affricates Male Caucasian6 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Hispanic7 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male African

American/Caucasian8 H/ other common long

vowelsFemale Caucasian

9 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Hispanic10 H/ other common long

vowelsMale Asian

11 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Caucasian12 D/ affricates Female Hispanic/Asian13 M/ long vowel patterns

(stressed syllables)Male Caucasian

14 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Hispanic/Caucasian15 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Hispanic16 H/ other common long

vowelsFemale African American

17 B/ initial consonants, blends, and diagraphs

Female African American


Female Caucasian


Female Caucasian

20 F/ long vowels ( VCe) Male Indian21 B/ initial consonants, blends, Female Hispanic


and diagraphs22 D/ affricates Male Hispanic23 B/ initial consonants, blends,

and diagraphsFemale African America

In order to figure out the students spelling levels, I administered the Words Their

Way spelling pretest. Once the students’ levels were determined, I started the student on that

sort. Each student will complete the accompanying sort to the level they scored on. Once the

whole sort for the level is completed, the student will jump to the next level and complete those

accompanying sorts. Each week the students have time to sort their words to become familiar

with the particular sounds/syllables for that sort. In addition to the sorts each week, students will

have weekly centers that focus on their spelling sort. The data instruments used as well as their

reliability and validity are presented in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Data Instruments

Data Instruments Is there reliability and validity in this data?

Location

Words Their Way Pretest Yes, the pretest is reliable and valid because Words Their Way is a researched based curriculum in which assesses many aspect of the students spelling to assess which level they need to start on.

Spelling Sorts /Spelling Assessments

Yes, These assessments are the words in which each student has each week. The words are suggested by the Words Their Way program.

Spelling Sorts Yes, These are weekly sorts that


go along with where the student should be after being assessed by the pre-test. Words Their Way has listed suggestions as to what should be included.

Center Assignments Each week students will have centers that relate to their sort to reinforce the pattern they are focused on.

Reader’s Response Each week the students have two rotation with their centers in which they complete a readers response. Each student has a rubric in which the teacher uses to conference with them every week to see how their writing/spelling is going based on the rubrics criteria.

Words Their Way Posttest Yes, the posttest is reliable and valid because Words Their Way is a researched based curriculum in which assesses the same as the pretest, however you will be able to see any gain made over the course of the sorts.

The research procedures that were implemented were quantitative and qualitative. The

students were given and pre and a post test. This allowed for the spelling assessments to have

meaning and show if the spelling intervention was successful or not. As well as if the students

were making progress in there every day spelling and sorting their words every week to become

familiar with their sorts and the characteristics of the words. The qualitative procedures came

from the effort the students were putting into their sorts and observations. Each week the

students would reflect on their spelling and how they think they are doing each week during the

interventions. Their feelings will come from their reaction to seeing their grades on the spelling

assessments and the results they are seeing in their educational journey and in their everyday life

when they spell and sound out words.


The quantitative procedures that are listed below are reliable and valid. Each procedure

provided information data necessary to the insight of whether the students were improving their

spelling. The data presented is done so in a credible and accurate way to assess the student’s

growth. In Tables 2 and 3 below, they discuss the procedures and how they were used in my

research.

Table 2- Quantitative Procedures

Procedures How They Were UsedPretest and Posttest Data This data was used to determine the starting level

of each individual student, as well as the growth each student made by the end of the spelling intervention period for this research.

Weekly Spelling Assessments This data was used to track the progress made by each student. It also gave me data as to who was sorting and studying their words, versus who was not spending the time needed to complete their sort properly.

Centers Assignments This data will show if the student can complete the work on his/her own. The center will consist of an activity that coincides with the students spelling sort for that week.

Reader’s Response Conference Each week the student will conference with the teacher using the rubric to discuss how their writing/spelling is coming along.

Table 3- Qualitative Procedures

Procedures How They Were UsedSpelling Sorts These sorts were meant to reinforce the skills of

the spelling characteristics for that week. This was the student’s responsibility to practice sorting their words into the correct categories.

Teacher Observations I would observe my students to make sure they were sorting correctly and staying responsible for their learning. I would also reteach the sort to students if I saw them sorting incorrectly or becoming confused and or frustrated with their words. My observations would impact my instruction for the intervention that day.


Student Reflections/Journals At the end of each week, I would have the students reflect on how they did and if they saw any improvements with their spelling or sounding out or hearing parts of words. They would talk about if they are seeing any improvements in school and on their weekly assessments.

This study addresses relational questions along with a longitudinal design. The data that

originates from this study is done so over a long period of time as well as combined with

multiple observations and multiple variables.

Data Analysis and Results

In order to measure the successfulness of the spelling intervention, spelling assessments

were given weekly as well as centers and activities for the students to participate in to reinforce

the spelling pattern their group was in. The students also had weekly reader’s response journals

in which they reflected on their spelling and on prompts so that conferences could be held to

track student progress.

The last spelling assessment was taken on March 26, 2015 and the post assessment was

given March 27, 2015. This information is presented through charts and graphs, which will

include the amount of growth of each student as well as each spelling level. This data was

collected and conducted in a traditional classroom. All data relevant to this spelling intervention

will be represented in the forms of charts and graphs.

After ten weeks of collecting data, all of the students in which I assessed showed growth

in their spelling. In the figure 2.0 it shows each student, where they stated in regards to the

spelling pre assessment, where they ended according to the post assessment, their gender and

race. The spelling level is also listed for the pre and post assessment by giving specific


information on the spelling pattern they need to focus on. The following figures represent the

progress of each student depending on the spelling level they started out on.

Figure 2.0- Student Participates

Figure 2.1- Spelling Level B Progress

Figure 2.2-Spelling Level D Progress

Figure 2.3 Spelling Level F Progress

Figure 2.4 Spelling Level H Progress

Figure 2.5 Spelling Level M Progress

Figure 2.0-Student participants

Student Spelling Level (Pre-Assessment)

Spelling Level (Post-Assessment)

Gender Race

1 D/ affricates I/ Complex consonants Female African American2 B/ initial consonants,

blends, and diagraphsD/ Affricates Male African American

3 F/ long vowels ( VCe) I/ Complex consonants

Male African American

4 F/ long vowels ( VCe) I/ Complex consonants Male Asian5 D /affricates I/ Complex consonants Male Caucasian6 F/ long vowels ( VCe) J/ Ambiguous vowels:

Diagraphs/DiphthongsMale Hispanic

7 F/ long vowels ( VCe) J/ Ambiguous vowels: Diagraphs/Diphthongs

Male African American/Caucasian

8 H/ other common long vowels

L/Other Syllable Juncture doubling

Female Caucasian


Male Hispanic



Male Asian

11 F/ long vowels ( VCe) I/ Complex consonants Male Caucasian12 D/ affricates I/ Complex consonants Female Hispanic/Asian13 M/ long vowel patterns

(stressed syllables)P/ Silent and Sounded

consonantsMale Caucasian

14 F/ long vowels ( VCe) I/ Complex consonants Male Hispanic/Caucasian15 F/ long vowels ( VCe) J/ Ambiguous vowels:

Diagraphs/DiphthongsMale Hispanic




Female African American


D/ Affricates Female African American


I/ Complex consonants Female Caucasian


D/ Affricates Female Caucasian


Male Indian


D/ Affricates Female Hispanic

22 D/ affricates I/ Complex consonants Male Hispanic23 B/ initial consonants,

blends, and diagraphsD/ Affricates Female African America

Figure 2.1- Spelling Level B Progress

This graph shows the seven students who started at the lowest spelling level in the

classroom. By observing this graph, one will notice that student 19 stayed consistent with getting a


perfect score on her spelling each week, compared to that of student 2 whom was all over the board

with his spelling assessments. The average score for the spelling assessment in this group was an

87.5.

Figure 2.2-Spelling Level D Progress

This graph shows the four students who started at the second lowest spelling level in the

classroom. By observing this graph, one will notice that all of these students went up and down

throughout the spelling assessments. There was not any spelling pattern in which all of the

students decreased at the same time, but there were spelling assessments in which all of the

students increased. The average score for the spelling assessments in this group was a 92.25.


Figure 2.3 Spelling Level F Progress

This group contained most of my students with nine in the group. Many of these students

receive ESOL supports during school in the areas of reading and writing. By observing this

graph you notice that the lowest grade on any spelling assessment was a 20, and the highest

being a 100. There were more passing grades than failing grades throughout this time period.

The average spelling assessment score in this spelling group was an 81.22.


Figure 2.4 Spelling Level H Progress

There were only three students who scored at the level H at the beginning of the research.

Student 9 increased for three weeks, decreased for another 3 and then started to rise for the rest

of the data collection. Student 10 ended strongly making a 100 on the last spelling assessment,

and student 16 fluctuated with increasing and decreasing weekly. The average spelling score for

this group of students was a 79.


Figure 2.5 Spelling Level M Progress

The last spelling level consisted of one student. The lowest grade he made on the

spelling assessment was a 90. He made a 90 on two spelling assessments while making 100’s on

the rest. This gave him an average of a 98 on the spelling assessments.

In addition to the spelling assessments, data was taken on the students’ Reader’s

Response Journals. The purpose of this was to observe if the students were taking their

knowledge of the learned spelling patterns, and applying it to their education on other areas

besides their spelling assessments and spelling centers. A student from each level was chosen in

which their Reader’s Response Journals were tracked each week and conferences were held to

check in with the students and their progress with the spelling in their journals. The same rubric

was used with each student to monitor their progress. Figure 3.0 is the rubric which was used

with each student. In the following figures, the rubrics are filled in with information from each

conference with the students from each spelling group.


Figure 3.1- Student A from Spelling Group B

Figure 4.1 Student A’s Spelling Assessment Graph

Figure 3.2- Student B from Spelling Group D

Figure 4.2 Student B’s Spelling Assessment Graph

Figure 3.3- Student C from Spelling Group F

Figure 4.3- Student C’s Spelling Assessment Graph

Figure 3.4- Student D from Spelling Group H

Figure 4.4 Student D’s Spelling Assessment Graph

Figure 3.5- Student E form Spelling Group M

Date ComprehensionDisplays an understanding of story elements (characters, conflict, plot, sequence of events, ect.)

ApplicationExplains how ideas apply to the reader’s world. Makes connections and applies comprehension strategies.

ReflectionExplores thoughts and feelings about the literary work. Evaluates the text.

FocusResponse is clear and has strong flow on specific ideas. Your response has proper conventions as well. This includes punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.

ElaborationSupports arguments with strong supporting details, examples, and quotations. Length is sufficient.

Comments Score

/20 /20 /20 /20 /20

Figure 4.5 Student E’s Spelling Assessment Graph

Figure 3.0- Reader’s Response Rubric


4- Excellent 3-Good 2- Satisfactory 1- Poor 0-Unacceptable

Name:

The rubrics assist in keeping track of the students’ progress in their spelling. The criteria

for the rubric focuses on the quality of the response to the text read, so that any level of speller

can understand the rubric and accomplish the task of writing a reader’s response. Along with the

response comes the focus criterion which talks about the spelling aspect.

Figure 3.1- Student A from Spelling Group B

Reader’s Response Journal Rubric


Student: A




FocusResponse is clear and has strong flow on specific ideas. . Your response has proper conventions as well. This includes punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.

ElaborationSupports arguments with strong supporting details, examples, and quotations. Length is sufficient. Comments Score

1/13 1 2 1 2 1 The response is not long enough for the reader to understand how and what you felt about the book. The spelling could be better in regards to the spelling patter we are discussing this week. Some words that were spelt incorrectly: boat, sponge, and different.

7/20


1/20 2 2 2 2 2 The response is better than last week; you told me the characters of the book and the problem in the story. Work on your summary so that you give the perfect amount of detail. Words that were spelt incorrectly included: afraid, brave, and swim.

10/20

1/27 2 2 3 2 3 Great reflection and telling the audience what you thought about the book. You made great text to text and text to self-connections. Some of the words that were spelt incorrectly were: favorite, started, part and recommend.

12/20

2/3 2 3 3 3 2 You are doing a great job you’re your summaries and giving the perfect amount of information. You can work on you focus a bit more but overall it was very good. Some words that were spelt incorrectly were: left, driver, everybody and because.

13/20

2/10 3 2 3 2 3 Great comprehension shown in your writing. You have come very far. Some of the words spelt incorrectly were: favorite, simply, and history.

13/20

Figure 4.1- Student A’s Spelling Assessment Graph


Student A was able to increase his focus score each week as well as other criteria scores.

If you notice the words in which he misses, they are not in his beginning spelling level pattern

which shows that he is transferring his spelling patterns to his writing. When comparing his

scores on the reader’s response journal to his spelling, you notice that he does increase in both

areas towards the end.

Figure 3.2- Student B from Spelling Group D



Student: B

Date:

ComprehensionDisplays an understanding of story

ApplicationExplains how ideas apply to the reader’s

ReflectionExplores thoughts and

FocusResponse is clear and has strong flow

ElaborationSupports arguments with strong


elements (characters, conflict, plot, sequence of events, ect.)

world. Makes connections and applies comprehension strategies.

feelings about the literary work. Evaluates the text.

on specific ideas. . Your response has proper conventions as well. This includes punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.

supporting details, examples, and quotations. Length is sufficient. Comments Score

1/13 2 1 2 1 1 The response needs more details so that the focus is clearer. Some of the words that were spelt incorrectly were: Example, though, details and opinion.

7/20

1/20 2 2 2 2 2 The focus is better, in regards to the punctuation. There is more of a reflection and connections made. Words that were spelt wrong: explanation, sincere, because.

10/20

1/27 3 2 3 3 3 Great job making connections and having your response flow. You explained the story structure then added you thoughts. Words that were spelt incorrectly were: opinion, though, open.

14/20

2/3 2 3 2 3 3 The comprehension was not as strong as the week before and your reflection was weak. You need to focus on summarizing the story and giving your opinion. Your conventions were better, I can tell that you are taking your time and not rushing through. All words were spelt correctly.

13/20

2/10 3 3 3 3 3 Reflections were better and strong connections were made. The summary of the story gave enough information to make your reader want to find this book. All words were spelt correctly!

15/20

Figure 4.2 - Student B’s Spelling Assessment Graph


Student B did very well with her Reader’s Response Journals, to the point where she had

zero spelling mistakes in her last responses. Some of the words she had in her journal were above

the spelling pattern she was on. If you look at her spelling assessment graph, her scores fluctuate

from 90’s to 100’s. This shows that she has a fairly good understanding of the spelling patterns,

and does a tremendous job at transferring the skills into other areas of school based on her

journals with no spelling errors.

Figure 3.3- Student C from Spelling Group F



Student: C






ElaborationSupports arguments with strong supporting details, examples, and quotations. Length is sufficient.

Comments Score

1/13 3 2 2 2 2 Great Explanation. Next week work on making connections with the text. Words that were spelt incorrectly included: afraid, compared, and reflex.

11 /20

1/20 3 3 3 2 3 Great job with combining the summary with your thoughts. You made some great connections. Your conventions could be improved by using the correct punctuation for your sentences. Some of the words that were spelt incorrectly were: dead, strength and wander.

14/20

1/27 3 2 2 3 3 The connection you made needs to be explained more for your readers. Since you are making a text to self, you may need to summarize the event that you connected the story with. Words that were spelt incorrectly were: yesterday, predict, and teachers.

13/20

2/3 3 3 3 3 3 You improved at explaining your connections and summarizing both the story and your connections. Your punctuation matches your sentences. You only have one word that was spelt incorrectly and that was: cafeteria.

15 /20

2/10 4 3 3 3 3 Best work on explaining the story structure of the story. You chose a complicated text and summarized it perfectly. You did have some spelling errors being: fainted, training, and neighbor.

16 /20

Figure 4.3- Student C’s Spelling Assessment Graph


Student C was able to understand and apply the spelling levels the longer we had the

spelling assessments. When comparing the graph to the rubric, you notice that he was getting

perfect scores on his spelling. The words he misspelled in his journals were on the same spelling

pattern for the week of 1/13 but on the other weeks he was spelling the words on his level

correctly and misspelling words he did not learn the pattern for.

Figure 3.4- Student D from Spelling Group H



Student: D

Date ComprehensionDisplays an understanding of

ApplicationExplains how ideas apply to

ReflectionExplores thoughts and

FocusResponse is clear and has

ElaborationSupports arguments


story elements (characters, conflict, plot, sequence of events, ect.)

the reader’s world. Makes connections and applies comprehension strategies.

feelings about the literary work. Evaluates the text.

strong flow on specific ideas. . Your response has proper conventions as well. This includes punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.

with strong supporting details, examples, and quotations. Length is sufficient. Comments Score

1/13 2 1 2 1 1 Support your writing with more details from the text to make the focus clearer with your opinion. Words spelt incorrectly included: gain, contrast, reminded, and summaries.

7/20

1/20 2 2 1 2 2 The punctuation is better but there are still some mistakes, and you are forgetting to capitalize ‘I’ in your writing. You are making good connections; we just need to further your thinking. The only word that was spelt incorrectly was: interesting.

9 /20

1/27 3 2 2 2 2 Best summary yet! You fixed you capitalizations and you made deeper connections. You misspelt the word Experiments.

11/20

2/3 3 3 3 3 3 You are doing a great job with your deep connections and making your summary more exciting making your audiences want to read the book Work on giving important detail rather than just any detail. All of your words were spelt correctly. Great job!

15/20

2/10 3 3 4 3 3 Awesome job making the deep connections and reflecting on the chapter. You brought up some good questions to ask the reader. You had no spelling mistakes.

16/20

Figure 4.4 Student D’s Spelling Assessment Graph


Student D shoes that she is transferring her spelling pattern knowledge into her writing

with having no spelling mistakes in the last two journal entries. However, when looking at her

graph of her spelling assessments, you see that she was very inconsistent with mastering the

spelling patterns. She was making progress towards the end of the data collecting period, as have

my other Reader’s Response Journal samplers.

Figure 3.5- Student E form Spelling Group M



Student: E






ElaborationSupports arguments with strong supporting details, examples, and quotations. Length is sufficient. Comments Score

1/13 2 2 3 2 2 Great start with bringing details to support your opinion with your writing. Words spelt incorrectly included: afraid, revenge, and opposite.

12 /20

1/20 3 3 3 3 3 Very long response with tons of detail. Work on adding the important details and not every little detail. This response took him the whole week and there were no words spelt incorrectly.

15/20

1/27 4 3 3 3 4 Great connections made. Worked on only adding the important detail, the only word spelt incorrectly was pencil.

17/20

2/3 4 3 3 3 3 Started a new book this week and did a great job describing the characters. The words spelt incorrectly were: menacing, aggravated, and patriot.

16/20

2/10 3 4 4 3 4 Great job reflection and making connections, you gave enough detail to support your thoughts and connections. The punctuation was great and you added dialogue into your reflection. The words spelt incorrectly were crayon (in one sentence, but spelt correctly in another) decomposing and allegiance.

18/20


Figure 4.5 Student E’s Spelling Assessment Graph

Student E was on the highest spelling level in my classroom. He was able to transfer

some of his spelling patterns in his responses however, there were words in which he was tested

on during his spelling assessments in which he spelt wrong in his journal responses. Crayon was

spelt incorrectly once, but then in other sentences was spelt correctly. There were words that

were spelt incorrectly that were above his spelling level.

Conclusion

This Action Research Project is focused on implementing a spelling intervention in

second grade with a focus on individualized spelling assessment to better suit the levels of each


student. From this study, the students were able to begin focusing on spelling patterns they

needed to gain a better understanding of, and increase from there on. For instance if the student

needed more instruction on within word patterns, they would start at the level dictated by the

pretest and go from there. Best practice dictates that, lessons are differentiated on the student’s

level.

Through the individualized spelling assessments and weekly word study assignments, the

students were able to apply their knowledge of the spelling pattern into their writing and

therefore other areas of their education. They were doing this to increase their communication by

spelling words correctly and applying their learned patterns to assist them in spelling unknown

words out. The individualized spelling assessments and assignments were designated to fill in the

gaps of the students learning in terms of sounding out and spelling known/unknown words.

This model of individualized spelling assessments and assignments allowed for multiple

intelligences and learning styles to be integrated to better suit the learning needs of each student.

The students had a multiple intelligences choice board to complete activities with their spelling

words. This choice board also allowed for activities that would touch on all types of learning

styles. Some of the activities included: creating a script using all of your spelling words, Draw an

advertisement in which some of your spelling words are incorporated into the picture, write a

poem, song, or rap using your spelling words, and creating a comic strip with the dialogue

involving the spelling words.

The quantitative and qualitative data taken from this Action Research Project suggests

that individualized spelling assessment help increase the students writing performance. All of the

students increased their spelling level, and based on the selected student’s Reader’s Response


Journals, they well all able to spell words correctly on their level and some above their level as

well.

During this intervention, the students were also able to increase their vocabulary with

introducing new words each week. The students had tasks that instructed them to incorporate

their words into a conversation or dialogue of some sort. This transferred into their daily

vocabulary and assisted them in describing words in unique ways as well as being more

descriptive in other areas of their schooling such as science experiment write ups, and math

explanations on assessments and conversations.

The weaknesses of this study are mainly factors of the reality of teaching. Students were

absent some of the days and therefore were not able to complete their rotation of centers to work

with their spelling words. During these times, the grades on the assessments were lower than the

usual for the student. This absence delayed the growth of the student from mastering their

spelling pattern and moving on to the next level.

The daily flexibility of the school day also came into play with the weeks. Some weeks

we had to extend or cut out some centers because of days off and school programs going on

during the time we gave the assessments.

Home support and the amount of time the students are putting into their writing and

spelling can affect their. If the students are putting in extra time and doing their homework, then

they are more familiar with the spelling patterns and hoe the words should look while they write

their papers and stories.

In future, incorporating individualized spelling assessments would benefit the students in

more ways than one. Their vocabulary will increase, their ability to decode words will increase


as more spelling patterns are understood and dissected, and their writing will increase because

there will be more words spelt correctly and the world choice will vary as well.

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Appendix A

What is Word Study?


Each Friday, students will be bringing home their folder containing a

Language Studies homework sheet. Students will have written their Word

Study Words in the top box.

Word Study is a phonics, spelling and vocabulary program that is

differentiated according to students’ developmental or instructional spelling

levels and is taught in small groups. Spelling lists are based on spelling

features which represent generalizations about sound, pattern and/or

meaning. The goal is to develop both specific knowledge of words and

general knowledge of how words work.

At home, students will practice spelling their words. We want students to

focus both on what sounds are heard in a word and how the words are

spelled. This week, since we are just beginning Word Study, the entire class

will have the same set of words. You may notice that these words do not

seem appropriate for your child’s level. Next week, the words will be

differentiated by Word Study group. Your child may have completely

different words than their friends and/or neighbors.

In the weeks that follow, there may be times when your child has a Word

Study Sort that contains pictures instead of words. In cases like these, your

child will be expected to focus on the spelling feature that week. For

example, if your child’s focuses for the week are ‘sh’, ‘ch’, and ‘th’ words,


he/she would be expected to spell that feature correctly, but not the entire

word.

‘shep’ for the word “sheep” would be considered a correct spelling

Students will be administered a Word Study assessment each Thursday. We

appreciate your support in helping to develop your child’s literacy!

The Second Grade Team

Appendix B

Name:

Date:


Thinking About Language StudiesSpelling and Vocabulary Development

ELACC2L2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______________ _______ _______ _______

_______________ _______ _______ _______ ________

_______ _______ _______ _______ _______________ _______ _______ _______ ________

Homework Schedule

Every sentence has two main parts: a complete subject and a complete predicate. The complete subject includes all words that tell who or what the subject is. Example: Most

birds | can fly. The complete predicate includes all words that state the action.

Monday:


Write each sentence below. Draw a line (using a colorful pen, marker, or crayon) between the subject and the predicate. Example: Max wrote a letter.

1. The moon is shining bright.2. The people clapped when the concert ended. 3. My friend lost her money in the park. 4. The crew took care of the people on the ship.5. The boys won the baseball game. 6. Jane and Sara wrote a book. 7. The beach is always crowded.8. The children walk in a straight line in the hallway. 9. My class plays on the blacktop at recess.10. John and Ethan threw the football.

Tuesday: Write 5 sentences using 5 different Word Study words. Underline the subject of each sentence. Circle the predicate.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Wednesday:

Copy the sentences below. Underline the subject of each sentence. Circle the predicate.

1. The gardener watered the flowers.

2. The pilot flew the airplane


3. A gray dolphin jumped in the sea.

4. My mother was upset because I broke her favorite vase.

5. The flag blew in the wind.

6. The little baby slept in her crib.

7. The space alien landed the UFO

8. My journal is filled with my stories.

9. The eye doctor checked my vision.

10. The bus driver drove me to school.

Thursday: Be ready to take your Language Studies test today.

Appendix C


Name: ___________________________________ Date: __________________________________

Language Studies Quiz – Subject and Predicate1 _____________________________

2. ____________________________

3. _____________________________

4. ____________________________

5. _____________________________

6. ____________________________

7. _____________________________

8. ____________________________

9. _____________________________

10. ___________________________

Directions: Answer questions 11-20. Choose the best answer for each question.

11. What is the subject of the sentence below?

Yesterday my friends and I went to the beach.

A. Yesterday B. my friends and I C. went to the beach


We swam in the clear, blue ocean.


A. We B. We swam C. in the clear, blue ocean


My best friend saw a big fish.

A. My best B. My best friend C. saw a big fish


The fish was blue and green.

A. The fish B. was C. blue and green


The colorful fish began to swim with us in the water.

A. The clolorful fish B. began to swim C. with us

16. What is the predicate of the sentence below?

It swam around us in circles.

A. It B. in circles C. swam around us in circles


The fish swam away from us.

A. The fish B. swam away from us C. The fish swam away



We all rushed to the shore.

A. We all B. to the shore C. rushed to the shore


We told everyone about the fish.

A. about the fish B. We told everyone C. told everyone about the fish


Some people did not believe us.

A. Some people B. did not believe us C. people did not believe us


Appendix D


Appendix E


Appendix F

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